Choral societies sing new work

THERE was a large crowd in the audience at the Holy Redeemer in Bray last Sunday evening for a performance of composer Howard Goodall’s new work ‘Invictus: A Passion’ by Bray and Wicklow Choral Society.

They performed the Irish premiere of the work the previous night in St Andrew’s Church in Westland Row. The choirs were joined by soloists from Bray, soprano Sarah Power and tenor Ross Scanlon.

‘Invictus: A Passion’ is a musical retelling of the passion of Jesus Christ. The work is unusual in that the story is told from the perspective of women using texts written by women. It describes human suffering and persecution, but also the transformative power of love in the face of tyranny.

Howard Goodall CBE is one of Britain’s best known composers. His choral masterpiece ‘Eternal Light: A Requiem’ has been performed by hundreds of choirs all over the world since its premiere in 2008. He has written scores for many films and television programmes, such as the ‘Mr Bean’ series, ‘ The Vicar of Dibley’ and ‘Blackadder’.

A packed Holy Redeemer Church.

Choir members singing Invictus.

Organist John Morris and pianist Cormuin Ó Raghallaigh.

Lily Wright, Madeleine Scott and Eliza Scott.

Jen Bonus, Jennifer Haughton and Teresa Shaw.

LEFT: Tenor Ross Scanlan.